Grease shield for antifriction bearings



Oct. 7, 1952 F, Q, HlCKLlNG 2,613,090

GREASE SHIELD FOR ANTIFRICTION BEARINGS E? 4Z o 8 g/ Y ATTORNEY' Oct. 7, 1952 F. o. HICKLING 2,613,090

GREASE SHIELD EoR ANTIERIGTION BEARINGS Filed Nov. 1s, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 ATTORNEY' Patented ct. 7, 1952 GREASE SHIELD FOR ANTIFRICTION c BEARINGS Frederick Osgood Hickling, WestBridgford, Nottngh'am, England, assigner to Ransome and Marles Bearing Company Limited, Nottingham, England, a British company i Application No 'einher 18, 1948, Serial No. 60,806

Greatritain September 1., 1947 7 Claims. (Cl. 286--5) 1 e t This invention relates to improvements in antifriction bearings and particularly to improvements in sealing means for suchbearings to prevent the entrance of foreign matter into the bearings and leakage of lubricant.

rleretofore in anti-friction bearings comprising an inner ring and an cuter bearing ring having tracks for balls or rollers, the said rings have been extended in width on one orboth sides `of the rolling tracks and ground to provide seatgrease shield or seal being of such diameter as to have a push iit or a locating fit in or on one of the bearing rings; The periphery is so shaped as to give a lead in when it is assembled in the riphery oi the `L shaped ring being of a diameter to fit the ground surface of one of the rings and so arranged in the bearing that the whole periphery or substantially the whole periphery of the said shield or seal is in contact with the surface of one of the bearing rings somthat the said shield or seal will be definitely concentrically located With the other ring of the bearing, the outer edge of the L shaped ring being circumierentially curved' or pressed `outwardly to provide locating means adapted to be positioned in the groove iorlied in one of the said bearing rings.

It has been iound in practice that certain difficulties arose in iitting grease shields or seals of this kind as the interference t oi the shield and tolerances which of necessity had` to be allowed for made the fitting difficult and caused buckling of the shield and the locating means in the form ci an outwardly curved lip acting as a safety device did not give a lead in for assembling the shield in the bearing..

The object of the present invention is to provide a grease shield fitting which will overcome the above mentioned difficulties and to provide a grease shield or seal which will be held concentrically in the bearing by means of a push t or a locating nt in the bearing', the shield being retained againstv axial movement' by means of convex shape such as a circumferential rib or a series of convex shaped protrusions arranged around the periphery to co-operate with the `groove in the bearing. i

With this and other `objects in View the invention is characterised in that the means of con- Vex shape are formed or provided `on the periphery of the grease shield or seal to co-operate with the groove to act as a safety device to prevent axial displacement of the said grease shield when tted in the bearing, the periphery of the bearing.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure lis a part sectional elevation of an antifriction bearing having a grease shield tted according to one form of this invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing a pad fitted to the grease shield; l

Figure 3 is a part sectional elevation df an antif'riction bearing showing a` modiiied forni of grease shield and Figure 4 is a similar view of a further modified construction. i

As shown more particularly in Figurel the outer-and inner bearing rings l and 2 respectively of an anti-friction bearing such as a-ball bearing are extendedin Width on one or both sides of the rolling tracks 3 and for the balls 5. These tracks 3 and 4 and the extended. adjacent surfaces `l'i and l of the rings l and 2 are ground so thatv ground seating surfaces lwill bepovided for a greaseor lubricating seal 8 which is insorted within the said extensions. Adjacent to the rolling track 3 of,V for instance, the outer ring' l is formed a groove 91 of substantially semicircular, U or other convenient shape in cross section. This groove S is formed on one or both sides of the rolling track so that `the ring-like" shield or grease seal 8` mayV be fitted onl one or both sides of the bearing as-desired. Thisrgrease shield or seal 8 `is ef cup-like form of substantially L shape iin cross section and formed withl a retain-ing rim or lip lil of convex` shape onit's periphery whichI isf adapted to so cri-operate with the groove Si as to act as a safety device torprevent axial movement of the grease shield 8. rhe cylindrical portion il of the grease shield 8 is of such diameter as to have a push t lon the ground surface 6. Thus the grease shield t is maintained ccncentrically by the main body portion of the shield engaging the ground surfacei and' the vcurvedrim only acts as a safety devicetfor loca tion purposes and to prevent any axial' movement in use. The rib' or lip Iii is extended` in'- wardly at l2 and so curved as to givetlfe shield or seal 8.a lead in when it is being assembled in the bearing. The inward extension i3 which is disposed at right angles to the ground surfaces is so arranged and formed with a bore I4 as to be just clear of the ground surface l of the inner ring 2 of the bearing. This shield :B is pref- .tion to act as a safety device.

`erably of drawn mild steel or of spring steel either of which may be heat treated or otherwise or of stainless steel. In the construction shown in Figure 2 the cup-like shield 8 is fitted in any suitable manner with a ring-like pad I or protection member of substantially L shape in cross section. This pad I5 is preferably formed of synthetic rubber or like material and moulded, clamped or vulcanized in position to the inward extension I3 of the shield 8. The width of the cylindrical portion I6 of the pad I5 is substantially equal to the depth of the cup-like shield '8 and may be conically formed as shown so that its inner edge only contacts with the ground surface 1 to provide a knife edge sealing lip and a satisfactory seal with the minimum amount `of friction when in use. Alternatively the inwardv extension of this pad may be cylindrical' and if desired slightly convexed or curved at its ends to facilitate assembly. It will be seen that in cross section the shield member 8 and the sealing` pad I5 carried thereby forms three sides of a square with the opening facing the balls 5 or rollers of the bearing, one side or base of the square being formed by the thickness of the pad I5 and the thickness of the shield 8. It will be understood that the shield member as above described may be tted at each side of the rolling track of a bearing and that the sealing ring or pad may be I tted or omitted as desired.

In a modified construction as shown in Figure 3 the safety device instead of being in the form of a convex shaped rib or rim is in the form of a series of protrusions I'I of convex shape around the periphery. For instance three equally spaced protrusions I'I may be formed to engage in the groove 9 to prevent axial movement. The grease shield or seal is otherwise of similar construction to that previously described and the forward end may be inwardly curved to facilitate assembly.

In a further modified construction as shown in Figure 4 the grease shield 8 is formed with a cylindrical portion II is of such diameter as to have a push t or a locating fit in the outer ring I but the inwardly extending or radial wall is outwardly inclined or conically shaped as shown at I8 so that the shield 8 is of trough shape in cross section. The shield is curved at I9 to facilitate assembly and iitted with a pad I5 of substantially shape in cross section vulcanized or clamped to the wall I8 as previously described. The safety device to prevent axial movement in this construction is conveniently in the form of a rib 2U of convex shape rolled to engage in the groove 9 preferably after assembly. Alternatively a series of convex shaped protrusions may be formed around the periphery as in the previous construc- These protrusions being` formed either before or after assembly.

The above described shields are adapted to be detachably fitted to the outer bearing ring but the construction may be varied for fitting to the inner ring 2. In this case the groove 9 for cooperating with rib or protrusions would be formed Y on the inner bearing ring 2 and the iiange of the shield would be arranged radially outwardly to carry a sealing pad when it is desired to use a pad in conjunction with the shield.

What I claim is:

'1. A bearing assembly comprising two relatively rotatable members, one of which is ground to provide a seating surface and has a circumferential groove in the ground surface, a grease shield seated around said ground surface and being in the form of a ring of substantially L shape in cross section to provide an axial sleeve engaging said ground surface and a radial flange substantially closing the space between said members. means of convex shape pre-formed on said axial sleeve of the grease shield and seated in said groove, said convex means being at least as wide as said groove to span said groove and engaging the side edges of said groove to prevent axial displacement of the said grease shield between said members, the periphery of the grease shield being of such diameter as to have an easy push iit with respect to 'said ground surface.

2. In a seal as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means comprises a circumferential rib on the axial sleeve portion of the grease shield.

3. In a seal as claimed in claim 1 wherein the means are in the form of a series of protrusions of convex shape spaced around the axial sleeve portion of the grease shield.

. 4. In a seal as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means of convex shape comprises a circumferential rib formation at the inner edge of said axial sleeve portion, the inner edge of said rib being curved back to give the shield a lead in when it is assembled between said members.

5. In a seal as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inner periphery of the grease shield is curved from said axial sleeve portion to give a lead in when it is assembled between said members.

6. In a seal as claimed in claim 1 wherein a ring like gasket'member of substantially L shape in cross section is fitted to the shield to positively prevent the entrance of dirt between said members, said gasket including a radial portion secured to the radial portion of said sleeve, and an axially conical portion extending inwardly at the free edge of said shield radial portion to edge engagement with the free member.

7. In a seal as claimed in claim 1 wherein the grease shield is formed with a conical shaped radial portion to which is secured a ring-like pad of substantially V formation,v one branch of which is secured to said seal and the other branch 'of which extends into edge engagement with the free member.

FREDERICK OSGOOD HICKLING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNrrED STATES PATENTS 

